Hope is what the New Year brings. This is not just an emotional feeling but as the New Year starts just a couple of weeks after the solstice, the longest night, we can all look forward to what this New Year will bring.
I know that for some people today they will just be looking forward to that hangover going. Fortunately that’s not something I am suffering from; in fact it was the eve of Bah Humbug day when alcohol last passed my lips. Part of reason for this has been my need to keep a clear head. Locally there has been, in the past, problems with Badger Baiting, therefore I have been helping others who are protecting and guarding the Badgers. Fortunately, unlike previous years, there were no incidents of this illegal activity. Therefore I can look forward to a whole year of occasional badger watching.
However, as well as seeing the Badgers, I also saw some other human activity that would not have been out of place on the Discovery channel.
I am also looking forward to what the government decides regarding a Badger Cull. To explain to those that don’t know, in the UK we have a serious problem with bovine tuberculoses and for years farmers have been blaming badgers for spreading the disease. The government will be deciding if they will authorise a cull in late January or February.
While it is true that Badgers do catch bovine tuberculoses and they can spread it, they are not the cause of the problem. This was proved when farmers restocked following the major outbreak of Foot and Mouth. Areas that had previously been free of bovine tuberculoses suddenly suffered outbreaks, even though the new stock was supposedly coming from sources that were free of bovine tuberculoses.
While I understand the need to control this disease, a disease that can infect humans via milk, killing off badgers is not the answer. The rational for the cull are based upon assumptions and not the facts. Further, the reasons for farmers wanting this cull are an economic one. It will not eradicate the disease. As the bovine tuberculoses is within the cattle, killing off the badgers in any one of the disease hotspots will only create the illusion of removing the disease.
Because of fact that in the cattle there will still be a reservoir of the disease, all that will happen will be a reduction in the rate of spread. Paradoxically it will increase the area where the disease is prevalent. This is because when the badgers are cleared from these areas, badgers from other setts and territories will come and start exploring these new territories. These Badgers will then pick up the bovine tuberculoses from the cows and take it back to their sett. This will infect the other Badgers and as they go out foraging they will infect other herds thus spreading the tuberculoses further.
As I said this cull is an economic one, as DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) spends over twenty percent of its budget, four hundred million pounds, on bovine tuberculoses. Yet the measures taken thus far have done nothing to stop its spread, and since 2001 it has increased. Yet DEFRA has failed to take other action to help stop the spread of the problem like insisting that infected cattle are properly quarantined and housed in shelter where badgers cant get in.
The numbers of badgers that will be culled is staggering, as around each of the disease hotspots the government are talking about clearing an area of twenty-five square miles. That will mean that millions of Badgers would be killed. Also what is more disturbing is that the farmers will be allowed to do the culling with no supervision or any Government money. While most farmers will not want to see the badgers suffer, there will be a few that will use illegal snares and other methods that will impact other wildlife.
While this is all something for the near future, I hope that the government doesn’t go down this road, it may win them votes with some farmers, I suspect that it will loose them more votes when the public see their badgers disappear from the countryside.
As this posting is about hope, there is one Farmer in East Anglia, one of the disease hotspots that may have stumbled upon the solution to bovine tuberculoses. As farmers have been increasingly feeding Corn (maize) to cattle they discovered that it suppressed the immune system of the cattle. The solution was to add selenium to the diet in the form of a salt lick. This farmer discovered that his cows when fed the selenium became free of TB. So he placed these salt licks all over his farm. Then he discovered that the badgers were taking the salt as well, this lead to him discovering that his neighbours were suddenly free from TB.
The hypothesis, not proof, is that if Badgers were provided with selenium salt they can then fight off the bovine tuberculoses. While the observations may not be direct cause and effect there is real science behind the hypothesis as when salt licks were first introduced to farming in the 1930s a whole range of health problems in farm animals were eradicated overnight. It could be that the Badgers are catching this non-natural disease simply because they lack the minerals to fight off the infection. As it is such a cheap option it should be trailed at least to see if it works. As well as helping to prevent a mass slaughter, it could be the first step towards finally controlling bovine tuberculoses once and for all.
I know that for some people today they will just be looking forward to that hangover going. Fortunately that’s not something I am suffering from; in fact it was the eve of Bah Humbug day when alcohol last passed my lips. Part of reason for this has been my need to keep a clear head. Locally there has been, in the past, problems with Badger Baiting, therefore I have been helping others who are protecting and guarding the Badgers. Fortunately, unlike previous years, there were no incidents of this illegal activity. Therefore I can look forward to a whole year of occasional badger watching.
However, as well as seeing the Badgers, I also saw some other human activity that would not have been out of place on the Discovery channel.
I am also looking forward to what the government decides regarding a Badger Cull. To explain to those that don’t know, in the UK we have a serious problem with bovine tuberculoses and for years farmers have been blaming badgers for spreading the disease. The government will be deciding if they will authorise a cull in late January or February.
While it is true that Badgers do catch bovine tuberculoses and they can spread it, they are not the cause of the problem. This was proved when farmers restocked following the major outbreak of Foot and Mouth. Areas that had previously been free of bovine tuberculoses suddenly suffered outbreaks, even though the new stock was supposedly coming from sources that were free of bovine tuberculoses.
While I understand the need to control this disease, a disease that can infect humans via milk, killing off badgers is not the answer. The rational for the cull are based upon assumptions and not the facts. Further, the reasons for farmers wanting this cull are an economic one. It will not eradicate the disease. As the bovine tuberculoses is within the cattle, killing off the badgers in any one of the disease hotspots will only create the illusion of removing the disease.
Because of fact that in the cattle there will still be a reservoir of the disease, all that will happen will be a reduction in the rate of spread. Paradoxically it will increase the area where the disease is prevalent. This is because when the badgers are cleared from these areas, badgers from other setts and territories will come and start exploring these new territories. These Badgers will then pick up the bovine tuberculoses from the cows and take it back to their sett. This will infect the other Badgers and as they go out foraging they will infect other herds thus spreading the tuberculoses further.
As I said this cull is an economic one, as DEFRA (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs) spends over twenty percent of its budget, four hundred million pounds, on bovine tuberculoses. Yet the measures taken thus far have done nothing to stop its spread, and since 2001 it has increased. Yet DEFRA has failed to take other action to help stop the spread of the problem like insisting that infected cattle are properly quarantined and housed in shelter where badgers cant get in.
The numbers of badgers that will be culled is staggering, as around each of the disease hotspots the government are talking about clearing an area of twenty-five square miles. That will mean that millions of Badgers would be killed. Also what is more disturbing is that the farmers will be allowed to do the culling with no supervision or any Government money. While most farmers will not want to see the badgers suffer, there will be a few that will use illegal snares and other methods that will impact other wildlife.
While this is all something for the near future, I hope that the government doesn’t go down this road, it may win them votes with some farmers, I suspect that it will loose them more votes when the public see their badgers disappear from the countryside.
As this posting is about hope, there is one Farmer in East Anglia, one of the disease hotspots that may have stumbled upon the solution to bovine tuberculoses. As farmers have been increasingly feeding Corn (maize) to cattle they discovered that it suppressed the immune system of the cattle. The solution was to add selenium to the diet in the form of a salt lick. This farmer discovered that his cows when fed the selenium became free of TB. So he placed these salt licks all over his farm. Then he discovered that the badgers were taking the salt as well, this lead to him discovering that his neighbours were suddenly free from TB.
The hypothesis, not proof, is that if Badgers were provided with selenium salt they can then fight off the bovine tuberculoses. While the observations may not be direct cause and effect there is real science behind the hypothesis as when salt licks were first introduced to farming in the 1930s a whole range of health problems in farm animals were eradicated overnight. It could be that the Badgers are catching this non-natural disease simply because they lack the minerals to fight off the infection. As it is such a cheap option it should be trailed at least to see if it works. As well as helping to prevent a mass slaughter, it could be the first step towards finally controlling bovine tuberculoses once and for all.
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